Halloween

Halloween morning Leah had preschool, so it was just Charlie and me. We went to a MOMS Club activity at the local Senior Living Center to trick or treat and have a Halloween Costume Parade for the residents. Again this year I made costumes for both of the kids. Charlie is a puppy and Leah is Bell from Beauty and the Beast. In the picture above, Charlie is watching the fish in their fish tank. He loves fish, especially Nemo.

Running away.

Trick or Treat

Costume Parade

Leah on the playground at Lisa's Halloween party.

Family picture at the party. And surpise of all suprises, I won the tacky costume award. I wasn't trying to win, but I guess I got... lucky? You really can't tell from the picture but I had best frizzy hair ever, it was aweful.

Cutest kids ever.

Trick or Treating downtown. We went with a bunch of friends and trick or treated the local businesses in the afternoon. Leah is clearly upset in the photo, one of the kids was mean to her right before we took it and I didn't know it happened until after the picture was snapped.

She proceeded to have a rough afternoon, poor kid.

You'd think all that candy would have cheered her up.

Charlie's Birthday Party

Well the pictures are all out of order and for some reason I can't move them around, oh, well, you still get the idea. We got really lucky on his birthday to have beautiful sunny weather so his party could be held at the park. We invited a few friends, mostly Leah's friends, but since Charlies always around, I guess they can be considered his friends too.

Charlie was very excited to get his pack of cars. He refused to put it down.

The kid's obsessed, what can I say?

Opening presents, he got lots of help from his friends and especially his sister.

Proud of his cars.

Blowing out his two candles.

Charlie has his fork and is ready to dive in right there. Who needs to cut the cake?

Happy 2nd Birthday Charlie!!!

Fueling your obsession.

Leah playing on the spinning thing at the park.

I'd puke if I rode it and she can't get enough.

Welcome Home Daddy!

So excited!
Charlie and Daddy

First hug

Derek with his Company

Me and the kids not so patiently waiting.

Trying to run off energy and stay entertained. I was lucky to be sitting with people who would help watch Leah so I could take Charlie outside for a bit.

Cheese Ball

Playing in the dark Gym. Leah got all the kids out on the floor dancing to the music.

Crazy boy

Such a Ham

So glad to have Derek back home with us. It's been nice to be a family again.

how bout some pictures?

I still have pictures from July to share, but they are on Merridy's computer in Reno. I'm working on that...

Derek at his Change of Command Ceremony in May

Happy Eight Year Anniversary to me. My surprise roses from Iraq.
Me and the kids at Pacific Beach for our June 'Moms Only' and you can bring your kids vacation.

The Dunes. The wind was so strong it made these huge sand dunes. The kids had a blast playing on them. Not so much fun to walk up and down, but then again, walking on sand isn't always fun.

This was actually our last day at the beach. It was super windy and about 60 degrees. We didn't bring the kids suits because we thought they'd never want to get in the freezing cold ocean. So Leah started the strip down and before we knew it, all the kids were in their undies playing in the water and having a blast.

Charlie was the only one with any sense.

He always kept his distance. The waves scared him a little.

We tried a mini photo shoot with Charlie on the hill by the cottages. He didn't like it much.

Last day at the beach, playing on the dunes.

Had I known the kids would love flying kites so much and it would be so easy I would have forked out the money for the good nylon butterfly kite Leah wanted. Instead I bought the 3 dollar kite and got in about 30 minutes of kite flying before the wind tore it apart.

It was super cold this day, but there was a little pool of water left over from the tide that was really warm. The kids played in the puddle all morning and left the ocean alone.

"heavy"

Sand Castle Fun

People at been out clamming earlier in the morning and there were holes all over the beach. I don't remember why Leah was so excited about the holes.

Ready for some beach fun!

A group picture of everyone who came to the beach. We had two beach houses between us. So much fun, we could have stayed a month. I only wish it had been warmer than 65 degrees while we were there. I guess that's Washington for you in early June.

Charlie was terrified of the waves. This picture cracks me up because he's holding on to me so tight. He cried if I walked with him into the water. I'm such a mean mom.

My favorite picture of the beach. I only wish I'd gotten a good one of me and Leah. She wouldn't sit still long enough to take one, way to many friends to play with and beaches and ocean to see.

Sewing

I've finally updated my sewing blog if anyone wants to check it out. Someday, I will post some pictures and random details about my exploits this summer.

Past Due Pictures

I have nothing else to do tonight so I thought why not post some photos. These will be just a random jumble from the past 3 months. I'll try to caption them so you know what I'm showing you. These are in no particular order, most are from most recent to oldest.

APRIL

Everyone was sick Easter Sunday. We stayed home from church. The next weekend I got the kids dressed up in there Easter gear and attempted some photos. We didn't have much time before church started and I wasn't feeling particularly artistic with the camera.


This is the best I could get with them both standing in the same picture. No cooperation.

What a handsome boy. This kid kills me with how stinking cute he is. He's such a little devil too. He'll run up to you all lovey and just when you think he'll throw his arms around your neck and give you a hug, he whacks you on the head instead.

Leah in her beautiful princess dress. She picked it out with a little nudging from me.

Leah all ready for her first day of Pre-school. I was actually thinking and snapped some quick photos. You have to have pictures of the first day!

We went to the Easter Egg Hunt on Post. It was a beautiful day and the kids had fun running around and grabbing eggs. There were tons of people there and I don't know if I'll do this hunt again next year. What a mad house. All the kids and their parents lined up along the field, they yells go and you had to run for the eggs thrown onto the grass, not hidden. I almost lost Leah a couple of times chasing after the run away that is Charlie. We didn't get many eggs, but they had fun.

Charlie with his (empty) eggs. You had to line up after the hunt, turn in your empty eggs to get prizes. I'm not sure if this was lame or smart...no eggs to stuff, but waiting in line for candy sucked.

They look like such angels, those little devils in disguise.

Leah and her egg stash.

Running wild on the field. He was more interested in sprinting away than picking up eggs.

FEBRUARY

Daddy came home for R&R in February. I got a few pictures, not many, he's camera shy. The kids loved having daddy home. I was a little nervous how Charlie would react to him. I needn't have worried. Charlie ran right to him at the airport and let Derek pick him up. He wanted nothing to do with me the 2 weeks daddy was home. It was wonderful to see. Leah was all about him too. She took a slightly different approach. She discovered that she could play off her parents to get what she wants. If one is busy, go ask the other one. Someone is bound to give her what she wants.

Not quite sure what everyone is looking at.

MARCH

My Dad came out again in March to spend a couple weeks with us. We were able to go back to the beach for 4 wonderful days and we went up to Seattle again. This is a picture of Leah on the Ferry. We had to makeshift a coat for her. Somewhere in the shuffle hers was left at home. Poor frozen kid. It was so cold on the ferry that day.

My sister flew out to spend the weekend with us while Dad was here. My sister is in the grey sweatshirt and my cousin Lark is next to her in the white jacket. Lark moved north of Seattle a week before my family came to visit. We all got together a couple of times while everyone was here. It was fun.

I don't know where they got this idea, but it was so funny to watch them. They did this all on their own, with absolutely NO help from me. It was their campfire. I guess they are practicing for the future. I remember talking to Derek about taking them camping when he comes back home. There are wood chips in the rock circle that you can't see. Leah was so proud of her campfire. I was proud of them for making it and glad they don't know where I keep the matches.

Out at the beach. Cold again, it will be fun to go when you don't have to bundle up in thermals and winter jackets. Leah is feeding the birds some old crackers. They went nuts flocking around us. I thought they were going to attack a few times.

Building sand castles

Well that's the end of the show. I have more pictures, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to extract them from the word document they are in and put them here. When I figure it out, stay tuned for pictures from Twilight release day craziness! (I'm so behind....)